All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend
Album
Artist	AURORA
Released	March 11, 2016 August 26, 2016 (Super Deluxe)
Recorded	2014-2015
Genre	Alternative Electropop Indie pop Art pop
Duration	46:54 (Standard) 64:48 (Deluxe) 77:17 (Super Deluxe)
Label	Decca Records Glassnote Petroleum Records
Producer(s)	Odd Martin Skålnes Magnus Skylstad Nicolas Rebscher Jeremy Wheatley Alf Lund Godbolt Electric Pablo Nouvelle Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Singles
1.	"Runaway" February 9, 2015
2.	"Running with the Wolves" April 20, 2015
3.	"Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" September 4, 2015
4.	"Half the World Away" November 6, 2015
5.	"Conqueror" January 15, 2016
6.	"Warrior" (Promotional single) January 15, 2016
7.	"I Went Too Far" July 5, 2016
8.	"Winter Bird" December 20, 2016

Album Chronology
Next	Infections of a Different Kind - Step 1

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend is the debut studio album by AURORA. Released on Decca Records, it served as a follow-up to her debut extended play, Running with the Wolves. The album and its deluxe edition were released on March 11, 2016.

Another deluxe edition with extra bonus tracks (hereafter referred to as Super Deluxe) was released digitally in France on August 26, 2016, later in other markets and on CD on October 27, 2023.

Background

The background and first plans for the album started in January 2015. Aurora herself was just beginning to break through as a professional singer and musician with her debut single "Under Stars", which was released on November 25, 2014. After the single was released, she announced that she was working on more music, which would eventually become her debut extended play.

On February 9, 2015, she revealed her second single and lead single for her debut EP, entitled "Runaway", which did well on streaming services and built her a bigger fan base. AURORA's debut EP, Running with the Wolves, was released on May 4, 2015. Its second single, with the eponymous title "Running with the Wolves", was released June 10, 2015, and was classed as being the breakthrough single of Aurora's singing career. The song also brought her a lot of media coverage and was her first song on the charts, peaking at number 72 in Germany.

In May, Aurora mentioned that she had finished writing the album and that it was set to be released in September that year. During the summer Aurora talked regularly about working on new music and in August a music video for "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" was released, featuring its acoustic version. The album version of the song was released as a single shortly after. Being the first single in a while that was not previously released, it sparked speculation over the upcoming debut album.

During the late days of October 2015, she confirmed that she was chosen to perform the lead soundtrack for the 2015 John Lewis commercial which was to air in the UK over the Christmas months. The advert premiered on November 2, 2015, revealing a cover version of song "Half the World Away", originally released by English rock band Oasis in 1994. The version of the song was another breakthrough success for the singer as it earned her a place in the British and Irish charts, peaking at number 11 and 22 respectively. Aurora officially released the song as her fourth single a few days later. She also revealed that "Runaway" was to be treated as the album's lead single and that "Running with the Wolves", "Half the World Away" and "Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" would be on the album.^{[citation needed]}

The album's title, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, and release date were announced during a BBC broadcast on December 7. The cover art and tracklist were revealed via Aurora's website on December 10 and pre-order opened on December 11. On December 14, the mini-documentary Into the Light was released.

In January 2016, leading up to release of her album, its fifth and sixth singles were released, "Conqueror" and "Warrior". After the album's release on March 11, 2016, all of the remaining songs from All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend were released. "Lucky", "Winter Bird" (March 22, 2016), "Through the Eyes of a Child" (May 26, 2016), "I Went Too Far" (June 3, 2016), "Black Water Lilies", "Nature Boy", "Wisdom Cries" and "Home" (June 10, 2016). During that long period of time, she embarked on a major continental tour of Europe and an individual UK tour to promote the ongoing releases of her debut album.

About the album

On the meaning behind the album title, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, Aurora said:

"I quite like [that] it is a long, awkward title. So people have to say the whole thing every time they're going to mention it, which I think is kind of funny. But, I think it's a nice thought to have your demons, because we all have demons, don't we? Small and big, to greet you as a friend someday in the future. And you will come to peace with everything that's happened to you, and people you know. It's a very important thing to manage to do, I think. You can not die unhappily, but live happily after that is less depressing to say."

Tracklist

Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Duration
1.	"Runaway"	Aurora Aksnes, Magnus Skylstad	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	4:08
2.	"Conqueror"	Aurora Aksnes, Geir Luedy, Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Jeremy Wheatley	3:27
3.	"Running with the Wolves"	Aurora Aksnes, Michelle Leonard, Nicolas Rebscher	Odd Martin Skålnes, Nicolas Rebscher, Magnus Skylstad	3:14
4.	"Lucky"	Aurora Aksnes, Odd Martin Skålnes	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	4:13
5.	"Winter Bird"	Aurora Aksnes, Jonny Wright	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	4:04
6.	"I Went Too Far"	Aurora Aksnes, Magnus Skylstad, Odd Martin Skålnes	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Jeremy Wheatley	3:27
7.	"Through the Eyes of a Child"	Aurora Aksnes, Michelle Leonard, Alf Lund Godbolt	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Alf Lund Godbolt	4:34
8.	"Warrior"	Aurora Aksnes, Michelle Leonard, Alex Knolle, Nicolas Rebscher, Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Janis Liphardt	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Jeremy Wheatley	3:43
9.	"Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)"	Aurora Aksnes, Odd Martin Skålnes	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	3:20
10.	"Home"	Aurora Aksnes, Tom Hull	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	3:32
11.	"Under the Water"	Aurora Aksnes, Electric	Odd Martin Skålnes, Electric, Magnus Skylstad	4:24
12.	"Black Water Lilies"	Aurora Aksnes, Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	Magnus Skylstad, Odd Martin Skålnes	4:42
			Total duration	46:54

Deluxe Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Duration
13.	"Half the World Away"	Noel Gallagher	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra	3:18
14.	"Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" (Acoustic)	Aurora Aksnes, Odd Martin Skålnes	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	3:38
15.	"Nature Boy" (Acoustic)	Eden Ahbez	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad	2:59
16.	"Wisdom Cries"	Aurora Aksnes, Michelle Leonard, Nicolas Rebscher	Nicolas Rebscher	4:07
17.	"Running with the Wolves (Pablo Nouvelle Remix)"	Aurora Aksnes, Michelle Leonard, Nicolas Rebscher	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, Nicolas Rebscher, Pablo Nouvelle (remixing)	3:50
			Total duration	64:48

Super Deluxe Edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Duration
18.	"I Went Too Far (PWNDTIAC Remix)"	Aurora Aksnes, Magnus Skylstad, Odd Martin Skålnes	Odd Martin Skålnes, Magnus Skylstad, PWNDTIAC (remixing)	4:43
19.	"Under Stars (Loon Remix)"	Aurora Aksnes, Dan McDougall	Dan McDougall, Odd Martin Skålnes, Loon (remixing)	3:33
20.	"Mr. Tambourine Man"	Bob Dylan	Magnus Skylstad, Odd Martin Skålnes	4:11
			Total duration	77:17

Outtakes

• "All My Demons" (Confirmed)
• "All the Little Things" (Probably)
• "Architect" (Probably)
• "Blue Valentine" (Probably)
• "Colours Are Gone" (Probably)
• "Crystalline" (Probably)
• "Gone" (Probably)
• "My Heart Is a Storm" (Probably)
• "Sleepless & Bothered" (Probably)
• "This Feeling" (Probably)
• "Unto the Light" (Probably)
• "We Are Nothing" (Probably)
• "We Were Going to Do That" (Probably)

Critical reception

All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 10 reviews.

In December 2019, it was voted as "Best Album of the Decade" at German radio station FLUX FM by public vote.

Commercial performance

The album commercially obtained a good performance in international lists. In Norway it debuted at the first position of the Norwegian Albums Chart with more than 55,000 copies sold, obtaining a Gold Disc certification. In the United States it debuted at the 150th position on the Billboard 200 selling over 5,000 copies. The album also charted in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom.

According to Chartmasters, the album has sold 600k in streams.^{[citation needed]}

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	51
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	40
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	95
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	43
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)	35
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	24
Irish Albums (IRMA)	66
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	41
UK Albums (OCC)	28
US Billboard 200	150
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)	21

Music videos

AURORA - Runaway

AURORA - Running With The Wolves

AURORA - Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)

AURORA - Half The World Away

AURORA - Conqueror

AURORA - I Went Too Far

AURORA - Winter Bird

Credits

• Aurora Aksnes – vocals (all tracks); piano (tracks 1, 6, 7, 12); synth (track 1)
• Alf Lund Godbolt – synth (tracks 2, 4); programming (track 7)
• Nicolas Rebscher – synth (track 3); keyboards & programming (track 16); programming (track 3)
• Odd Martin Skålnes – synth (tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12); piano (tracks 10, 13); drums & percussion (track 2); programming (tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13); bass guitar (tracks 2, 3, 4, 9, 10); acoustic guitar (tracks 14, 15)
• Magnus Åserud Skylstad – synth (tracks 1, 4, 7, 8); piano (track 2); drums & percussion (all tracks)
• Oystein Skar – synth (track 10)
• Pete Davis – keyboards & programming (tracks 2, 6, 8)
• Michelle Leonard – keyboards & programming (track 16)
• Edvard Eriford – programming (track 11)
• Henrik Michelsen – programming (track 11)
• Matias Monsen – cello (track 15)
• Askjell Solstrand – wurlitzer organ (track 13)
• Geoff Lawson – conductor (The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) (track 13)

Gallery

Photos of one of the album's vinyl releases (Decca, 4737927, 2016):

Album artwork by Jane Long (digital art, still-life images and graphic design):

Trivia

• Many of the songs on the album were written long before the album was recorded, some dating back to when Aurora was only 9 years old.
• Due to the success of the EP and a busy tour schedule, Aurora had only three weeks in the studio during the 8 months between releasing her EP and finishing the album.
• The original release dates were September 2015 and January 2016.
• All of the songs on the album's standard version have had their TV mixes leak, except Runaway and Winter Bird.